‘Excitement that I never dreamed of’: Film and TV Commissioner Linn Sitler to retire
Linn Sitler is retiring as Memphis & Shelby County Film Commissioner on Dec. 31, 2026, after nearly 40 years in the role. (Courtesy Nancy Lee Andrews)
In the mid-1990s, Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television commissioner Linn Sitler and mayoral aide Alonzo Wood picked up Francis Ford Coppola from the airport. The legendary filmmaker was scouting locations for his upcoming movie, “The Rainmaker,” and for the next few days, they took him to places like the courthouse and the University of Memphis.Â
“It was fantastic,” Sitler said. “We had nothing but fun.”
The Film and Television Commission, however, had no official scouting vehicle, so they drove Coppola around in Wood’s beat-up family van; though Coppola was polite and didn’t complain, toward the end of the trip he asked, “Whose van is this?”
When he got his answer, he asked Sitler, “Who do I write to get you a scouting vehicle?”
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Memphis Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission Linn Sitler Francis Ford Coppola Movies entertainment television Subscriber OnlyThank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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John Klyce
John Klyce is an enterprise reporter with The Daily Memphian who writes a wide range of in-depth features, as well as profiles about local leaders, scientists, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone else doing exciting and important work in this city. He previously spent four years with the Memphis Business Journal, where he covered public companies, startups, and innovation, and a fifth year with The Commercial Appeal, where he covered education, and chronicled how gun violence and poverty were affecting Memphis youth and their families. He has also been a fellow with the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. John has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Memphis and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Boston University.
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